Handbags and Gladrags
by Lifeasanamazon
Summary: Post Ep to 'The Hubbert Peak'.


Author: Angie

Title: Handbags and Gladrags

Characters: CJ/T

Rating: G

Summary: Charm can be over-rated, or so I've found.

Disclaimer: Not mine at all.

Spoilers: Post Ep. for 'The Hubbert Peak'

Feedback: Always appreciated.

A/N: Title is from the song. I don't know who sang it originally, but I like the Stereophonics' version.

Not on top of my game, but Belated Happy Birthday to You, Kimberley! With love.

Thanks to Kat and Rhonda.

- - - - - - -

Handbags and Gladrags.

- - - - - - -

"Hey."

Toby noticed that CJ could hardly raise her head to speak to him, even though he knew she'd seen him standing there for the last five minutes. In the good old days, he thought, - or at least the days before this week began, when the world was as safe as it could be with Jed Bartlet on a mission to save the Middle East, and when CJ worked for him, not the other way round - in the good old days, she'd have spoken to him as soon as she had seen him.

"Bad day?"

CJ shrugged. "Not so much bad as inevitable. How about you?" She looked up at him. "You coming in?"

He shrugged back. "Only if you've got time…"

CJ stood and walked to the sofa. "Close the door."

She sank down with a sigh and patted the cushion next to her.

Toby pushed the door shut with a soft click and debated whether to take the chair instead. He sat on the sofa.

"Do I look like a pushover to you?" He didn't try to keep the bitterness at bay.

CJ laughed. "A bad day then. How's Ms Schott working out?" She laughed again at the expression on his face. "I saw your last briefing. You did… better. Though I'm not so sure you needed the eyeliner."

Toby leant back against the cushion and closed his eyes. "It was horrible… She's been coaching me."

CJ pressed her shoulder against his and he could feel the rumble of laughter through the warmth of the contact. Unaccountably, he relaxed.

"She's been coaching me and it's killing me. It's killing me even more that she's sometimes…" he glared, "… _sometimes_ right."

CJ placed a hand on his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "So, she's been giving you a hard time, but that's why you hired her. Okay, it's why I told you to hire her. You don't need a 'yes woman', Toby." She paused. "I heard she spoke to Andi…"

Toby turned and looked at her. "How…?" He slumped forward, elbows on knees and head in hands. "I don't want to know."

A warm hand landed between his shoulder blades and rubbed gently. "I had a very brief lunch with Carol - well, she dropped by while I was eating - and it seems that Annabeth has not been backward in coming forward." She tugged at his hair briefly to make him sit back and tilted her head so she could see his face. "People are on your side, you know."

Toby didn't answer.

"Tell me."

"You don't have time for this, CJ." He waved a hand towards her desk and the pile of files heaped there. "You have stuff you need to get on with if you're going to get home before midnight." He tried to stand, but stopped when CJ put her hand on his thigh.

"Don't go. Not yet... please." CJ let her hand slip from Toby's leg to lightly grasp his wrist. "I have so much to do, but however much I finish, there always seems to be more. I could do with a diversion." She breathed in. "I miss things as they were… I miss _you_…."

He looked at her in shock, eyebrows raised. There was a faint flush on her cheeks and she looked way beyond tired.

She smiled. "Divert me."

So it was water instead of beer, but he was doing his best and it seemed to be working. She'd lost the sharp hunch to her shoulders and the corners of her mouth had reverted to their natural upward incline. Thinking about it, Toby decided that he felt almost flirtatious. Something else to blame on the new woman, when he had a moment, but for now, well, for now…

"How do you feel about charm, then, CJ?" He peered at her through half-closed lids.

"I'm charming enough…"

Oh good, she was going to play along…

"…or so I've been told." CJ quirked a smile at him and waited expectantly.

He cleared his throat. "I meant charm of the boyish variety. You know… the stuff that Sam had - probably still has - in spades. Josh's… thing." Somehow he managed to avoid wrinkling his nose and risked a glance at her. He'd save the puppy-dog eyes for later. No point in wasting the only weapon he had.

CJ stared at him and sucked her lower lip into her mouth.

Toby swallowed, pulling nervously at the hair he could feel growing over his top lip.

"My father says that you lack charm."

Toby felt the flush spread up his neck and into his ears. "And he, of course, is a man at the top of his game. I'm frankly amazed he can remember who I am." He saw her flinch. "Oh God, CJ, I'm sorry, I … uh." Damn his seemingly unconquerable urge to hit back. He dropped his head and covered his eyes.

CJ reached to pull his hand from his face and gripped his fingers tightly, her gaze fixed on their joined hands. "You have a quality, Toby, remember." Her tone was light and the understanding in it almost broke him. "Charm can be over-rated, or so I've found." She brightened and looked back at him. "Anyway, as I've said before, I can be charming enough for both of us."

"How do you feel about hostile and pugnacious?" He squeezed her fingers, briefly.

CJ laughed. "She called you that?"

"Apparently I have a look of veiled contempt too."

"Not so sure about the veiled part."

"That's what she said. So, do I?"

CJ ran her finger along the back of his hand. "Sometimes," she whispered, "it has to be said that you do."

Toby dragged their hands to rest on his thigh. "Sometimes, okay. But not when I look at you, right?"

She shook her head lightly. "Actually, you don't. I feel surprisingly honored." She leaned into his shoulder a little more. "I laughed at the Under-secretary for Whimsy and Caprice line, you know. I was proud - you did well."

Toby unclasped his hand and stood. "I didn't do well, CJ, it just wasn't as horrible as it has been." He rocked on his heels. "That was her line too…"

"Whimsy and …?"

"Yeah."

CJ silently considered him for a moment. "It's all about being able to take what's good from other people and making it your own. You know that. And it's not going to last forever. I don't need you to be Press Secretary, Toby, I need you to do what you do best and…"

Toby stared at the door. "I don't think I've written a meaningful word for days now. I miss it more than I thought I would…" He looked at her, puppy-dog eyes in full, but unconscious force. "I, uh, I miss working with you too."

CJ stood and turned him to face her, placed her hands on his chest, and looked at him. "What you do best is challenge people, Toby. You make them better. I can't do this without you - I wouldn't be here without you, for that matter. If I were President and I needed someone to watch my back and keep me on the straight and narrow, you'd be that man. I value you more than I've said before, but I think I need to say it now - and you need to hear it."

"You'll deny it tomorrow."

"Yes, I probably will." CJ walked back behind her desk and sat down. "Now go and choose a new shade of lipstick before I offer to lend you mine."

Toby opened the door. "CJ… thanks."

She smiled wearily. "You're welcome. But Toby - do whatever you have to do, but remember that if I had the choice, I wouldn't change a thing. I find that the original is irreplaceable."

End.


End file.
